Bare legs and beautiful people, music blasting from every doorway, epic parties with blow up rafts for crowd surfing, and more good eats than you can count on your fingers and toes, South by Southwest (SXSW) is the epitome of camp for adults. Above, take a little peek into our time at SXSW with this photo slideshow from some of our favorite shows!

We’ll leave you with a couple fun top 5 lists of our SXSW highlights – our top 5 performances and our top 5 places to eat!

Top 5 Performances

Alice Smith – The woman can sing her behind off, first of all. Every time we’ve seen her perform it’s all heart and soul – you watch her feel the spirit and are compelled to be moved by it right alongside her. Just epic. She also sang a few new cuts off of her upcoming album that will be coming out this year – and yes, they are amazing.

Michael Kiwanuka – Another magnificent voice. As we walked up the stairs to the church Michael was performing in, we couldn’t help but find ourselves in disbelief yet again at the voice emanating from the stairway and the walls – we had to be in a time warp, right? Was that voice really coming of this humble young man in 2012? Once we entered the room of jam packed pews, we became witnesses to our seeming fantasy becoming reality. Simply beautiful.

THEESatisfaction – So much flavor and heaps of attitude, these ladies are entertainers. With lyrics about bisexuality and racial identity, they also aren’t afraid to push the envelope and talk about things that actually matter. The melodic, often dense, dark, throbbing sound enraptures you like you never knew how you were without it before.

Erykah Badu – Anyone that’s seen a few Badu shows knows that no one show is ever the same. The lady can fill up a stadium with charm enough to make you think she was your homegirl talking just to you. In her home state, Erykah does not play – at all. The energy was the livest of live and we took it all in.

Rick Ross – Rawse at the Fader Fort. What else is there really left to say? Call and responses reduced to grunts and a hysterical crowd of hipster fans = everything you’ll ever need in life.

Electric Wire Hustle is undoubtedly one of our favorite newer acts to hit the scene in the last couple years. Their sound cocoons you in soulful nostalgia all while keeping your expletives in free flow with their unforgettably unique flavor. SXSW brought the New Zealanders several shows, including the Mint Collective x Grown Kids Radio Showcase, where we got a chance to snap a few photos and catch up with the guys.

Self-described as more “painting with oils than water colors,” Electric Wire Hustle’s fluid sound is one of purpose where individuals strengths are recognized and utilized. Citing the opportunity to travel and “sample more than what’s limited to [their] particular portion of the universe” as one of their reasons for making music, the group’s seemingly effortless appeal becomes easy to understand – their music is informed by both the depth and breadth of experience.

Trying to pin down exactly what feeling you get when listening to Electric Wire Hustle can be a bit difficult to describe at times. There’s a familiarity and a newness all at once, and on the first record, an undeniable sense of Marvin Gaye. Per the guys themselves, they share that they ‘don’t necessarily wan’t to be any one thing.’ They explain

“It’s beat driven, it’s Hotere influenced, its Samo before Basquiat blew up, its Kafka after the first chapter.”